Gen Z’s Sexual Recession Calls for a New Kind of Dating App Support

We’re used to Hollywood being obsessed with sex, but lately, there’s been a growing interest in those who don’t have sex. 

The TLC show “Virgins,” which premiered and June, and Hulu’s “Are You My First?,” which premieres on August 18, 2025, follow Gen Z and older virgins as they explore the reasons behind their intentional delayed virginity and take their first steps toward physical intimacy.

These TV shows point to an overlooked demographic in the dating industry: adult virgins. 

Intentional virgins and those who infrequently have sex are part of a phenomenon dubbed “the sex recession,” a buzzy term that captures the imagination — one can’t help but picture lonely Gen Zers walking around wearing “sex partner wanted” sandwich boards — but it points to a very real social shift.

People in their 20s simply aren’t having sex as much as they used to. 

It’s the same phenomenon that has prompted hookup apps like Tinder and Grindr to broaden their scope, and has led to an explosion of uber-niche dating apps. Gen Zers want to make deeper, more authentic connections based on shared interests, and they want to make these connections in person.  

But as the sex recession suggests, something is stopping some Gen Z daters from graduating to physical intimacy. Dating professionals and apps have an opportunity to explore Gen Z’s complicated relationship to sex, and to provide nuanced tools and resources that destigmatize both sex and virginity. 

The “Why” Behind The Sex Recession

On Wired’s “Uncanny Valley” podcast, journalist Carter Sherman explained that Gen Z’s lack of sex isn’t necessarily due to people simply not wanting to be physically intimate. 

There are countless factors on which to place blame: Social media’s ironic way of keeping people emotionally disconnected; the deepening gender and political divide in the U.S.; the ongoing loneliness epidemic; economic hardship that prevents young adults from asserting financial independence; cultural traditions; the list goes on. 

The National Survey of Family Growth found that American men “born between 2000 and 2004 had significantly higher rates of sexual inactivity than previous birth cohorts did at the same age.” And it’s not just men; a 2021 Kinsey Institute and Lovehoney study found that 1 in 4 surveyed Gen Z adults said they have never had partnered sex. 

The dating app industry has started to provide the types of deep, authentic, in-person connections Gen Z craves. But this authenticity-first mindset also shrinks the pool of potential partners, making emotional and sexual connections more infrequent.

Dating industry professionals may be thinking the same thing: “We keep optimizing apps, features, and events to meet the needs of today’s daters, but they’re still not making long-term sexual connections? What else can we do?” 

There’s no harm in providing helpful tools for Gen Z daters (or non-daters) to make intimacy less intimidating, and doing so could even make a dating platform more approachable and user-friendly to those who are new to the dating world.  

After all, the participants in each new virgin-centered TV show refer to the expertise of professionals in the sex and dating industries. 

Shining the Spotlight on an Overlooked Demographic

Dating professionals may want to focus on a demographic that major dating apps often overlook: virgins and all others impacted by the sex recession. 

When designing new app features or in-person events for Gen Z daters, it’s essential for dating apps to take into account the growing number of daters who have sex infrequently or not at all. They have needs, too, some of which are inherent to their economic, cultural, and/or religious backgrounds. 

For example, in TLC’s “Virgins,” 37-year-old Sonali enlists the help of a sex therapist and sexual surrogate because she fears intimacy as a result of her culturally conservative upbringing.  

From an economic standpoint, The National Survey of Family Growth also found that “Men who are unemployed and/or living at home with their parents are more likely to refrain from sexual intercourse than their peers who are employed and/or living independently of their parents.”

Dating apps and services must have a sensitive and well-researched approach when developing tools and events for daters who have long avoided intimacy. If the goal is to make people feel more comfortable in their sexuality, then features like cute profile prompts and AI icebreakers, while helpful, only scratch the surface. 

These daters need features that acknowledge their backgrounds and provide judgement-free guidance. Grindr’s upcoming telehealth service Woodwork, Bumble’s human-sourced dating advice, and Hinge’s voice notes are just a few examples of when dating apps take an unconventional but more impactful approach to engaging app users. 

Appealing to inexperienced daters or virgins on dating apps may seem like a fruitless endeavor, but as one of “Virgins’” other main cast members, Rhasha Newkirk, told Decider, “Being virgin [sic] until later in life is much more common than you think.”